Interieur met drie figuren bij een spinnewiel 1854 - 1914

Albert Neuhuys created this sketch, "Interieur met drie figuren bij een spinnewiel", with graphite on paper, and it now resides in the Rijksmuseum. Notice how the composition emerges from a network of delicate, almost hesitant lines. The interior space and the figures within it are suggested rather than defined. The textures created by the graphite strokes give the work an ephemeral, dreamlike quality. Neuhuys captures a scene of domesticity, yet it is one that feels transient, as though we are glimpsing a moment that is already fading into memory. The drawing’s open form, where lines do not always meet, invites the viewer to participate in the construction of the image. This incompleteness mirrors the way we often perceive the world, not as a set of fixed forms, but as a fluid and ever-changing field of possibilities. The materiality of the graphite itself—its capacity to create subtle gradations of light and shadow—becomes a key element in conveying a sense of atmosphere. The sketch as a whole functions not just as a preparatory study, but as an exploration of perception, memory and the transient nature of experience.